About the Parish Council
The Parish Council is the lowest tier of local government, run by volunteers who live in Greatworth and Halse. It is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of various important features of the villages and, from local knowledge, gives advice and opinion when requested to the District Council (SNC) and County Council (NCC) on subjects relevant to the neighbourhood.
Greatworth Parish Council has nine Councillors and a Clerk. All councillors are bound by a Code of Conduct and must make every effort to carry out their responsibilities as efficiently and sympathetically as possible, remaining unencumbered by political allegiances. The Clerk is a paid employee who deals with administration and advises the Council on the rules and legal guidelines necessary to ensure good practice. The Clerk is also the Responsible Financial Officer for the Council, responsible for the management of budgets, salaries and the payment of invoices.
The Council meets in the Methodist Hall in Greatworth on the first Monday of every month except August and one meeting a year is held in Halse. All Parish Council meetings are open to the public – there is always “Open Time” at the start of a meeting and anyone who wishes to raise a subject or ask for help is welcome to do so at that point. Meeting agendas usually include the maintenance and cost of street lighting, the maintenance and upgrading of play equipment, the mowing of village lawns and green spaces, cleaning up village roads, the scrutiny of planning applications, setting the precept to pay for village services, and carefully controlling the budget whilst implementing new projects.
The Parish Council safeguards the village trees and makes provision for the many dogs. It finances the free bus service, organises an annual litter pick and much more. It is not responsible for the school, the shop, or the church and does not maintain the roads but it works hard to keep Highways filling potholes, maintaining manhole covers and removing unsightly rubbish dumps.
Parish Councils are legally bound to be much more transparent and accessible than they were in the past. For this reason Greatworth Parish Council has relaunched its website in this new format – it is to be a village website and will contain all the necessary information about the Parish Council.
The biggest challenge that this Parish Council will face in the near future will be the construction of HS2 – it is still impossible to judge just how the years of construction that lie ahead will affect the village. The Parish Council has done, and continues to do a great deal of work on behalf of the village to try and get the best end result possible. We will be vigilant during construction to ensure your safety is paramount and make sure that good communication with the contractors helps to mitigate against noise, disruption and inconvenience.
If you have any questions please contact the Parish Clerk at clerk@greatworthparishcouncil.co.uk